Support for the Gaelic Plan

[Iain MacLean – Presenter] Aberdeenshire Council have agreed to some of Bòrd na Gàidhlig’s recommendations with regards to their Gaelic plan. Some councillors were saying the language wasn’t worth spending a penny on. Although, after an ill-tempered debate at the full council today, 34 were in support of the plan with 29 against it. Coinneach Smith reports.

[Coinneach Smith - Reporter] It’s not that you don’t see bilingual signs in Aberdeenshire, just that those are private signs. The official signs are still only in English. Road signs for example, and according to the Council, that’s the way they will stay despite controversy.

[Coinneach Smith - Reporter] Although signs aren’t in the Council’s Gaelic plan, they agreed to a lot of other recommendations from Bòrd na Gàidhlig in September. But that in itself was controversial and today members of the opposition attempted to stop them. They failed but matters were ill-tempered.

[Cllr Martin Kitts-Hayes] Well I’m disappointed that it was referred in the first place but I’m pleased with the outcome of the decision. I think common sense prevailed and I think we had an outcome that was agreed at PNR, the same outcome, so in many respects a very unnecessary, bad tempered, ill-considered I think debate across the chamber, we could have done without it but we are where we are.

[Coinneach Smith - Reporter] For Gaels living in the county, ignorance lies amongst some in the north-east about their Gaelic culture.

[Dr Michelle MacLeod] There are many, many people here who don’t understand that this area has ties to the language. They think it’s foreign to the area and it most certainly is not. As you know Gaelic was spoken here and people are now learning it and there are people from the area who speak Gaelic and it’s something that is indeed native to the area.

[Coinneach Smith - Reporter] In the Gaelic plan, which was agreed today, only £15,000 has been set aside for Gaelic. But, in the future, will more Gaelic be apparent?

[Margaret MacIver] I’m glad to hear that the Gaelic day went better than they first thought and in a way perhaps that doesn’t surprise me too much as maybe there is more support for Gaelic in the community and in the communities than was thought. And I would hope in five years time, as you said, down the line, that there will be more projects.

[Coinneach Smith - Reporter] Gaelic history cannot be avoided. The question is, what is to come.

[Coinneach Smith - Reporter] 1,000 years ago monks in this abbey in Deer, in the middle of what is Aberdeenshire today, wrote Gaelic words on manuscripts they had in the abbey, the earliest written evidence we have of Gaelic in Scotland. But almost 1,000 years later, the status Gaelic has in Aberdeenshire is as controversial as ever. Coinneach Smith, BBC An Là, Aberdeenshire.

Taic do Phlana Ghàidhlig

(Support for the Gaelic Plan)

VocabularyBriathrachas

Comhairle Siorrachd Obar Dheathain - Aberdeenshire Council

deasbad - debate

sradagach - ill-tempered

dà-chànanach - bilingual

prìobhaideach - private

aineolas - ignorance

manaich - monks

abaid - abbey

fianais - evidence

CuideachadhHow to use this site

Tha Learn Gaelic le An Là ag amas air luchd-ionnsachaidh na Gàidhlig a tha, le beagan misneachd, deiseil airson ceum air adhart a ghabhail. Tha an t-susbaint freagarrach dhan h-uile neach-ionnsachaidh, ach bidh e nas cuideachaile do dhaoine a tha seachad air an ìre Tòiseachaidh.Learn Gaelic with An Là is aimed at learners who have already gained some confidence in Gaelic and want to take their learning to the next level. The material is suitable for all learners, but those who have progressed beyond the Beginner level will find this section particularly useful.

Bidh sinn a’ cur sgeulachdan bhon phrògram BBC An Là beò gach seachdain, le tar-sgrìobhadh Gàidhlig is eadar-theangachadh Beurla. Bidh dath an teacsa ag atharrachadh nuair a thèid facal a chluich. ‘S urrainnear cliogadh air facal sònraichte agus cluichidh am bhidio bhon sin a-mach. Dh’fhaodadh gum biodh seo cuideachail dha luchd-ionnsachaidh airson fuaimneachadh a dhearbhadh. Stories from the BBC ALBA Gaelic news programme "An Là" are uploaded on a weekly basis, with a Gaelic transcript and an English translation. As each Gaelic word is spoken, the accompanying text changes colour. Individual words can be selected with a simple click and the video will play from that point onwards. Learners may find this useful for checking pronunciation.

Bidh gach paragraf Gàidhlig a’ gluasad ri linn na h-aithris, ach faodar cuideachd na bàraichean-sgrolaidh a ghluasad gu earrann shònraichte den aithris.Each Gaelic paragraph automatically scrolls in conjunction with the news report, but the manual scrolling bars can also be used to move the text to a particular section of the report.

Chithear an tar-sgrìobhadh Gàidhlig anns a’ chiad dol a-mach. Ach, gheibhear eadar-theangachadh Beurla den tar-sgrìobhadh le bhith a’ taghadh Beurla no Gàidhlig agus Beurla.The Gaelic transcript is shown by default. However, you can see a translation of the transcript by selecting the English or Gaelic and English tabs.

Tha briathrachas cuideachd ri fhaotainn, le faidhlichean fuaim Gàidhlig na chois. Tha a’ bhriathrachas air a thaghadh bhon aithris fhèin, le measgachadh leithid ainmean-àite, briathrachas naidheachd, gnathasan-cainnt is abairtean. Key vocabulary is also provided, with accompanying Gaelic audio. This is a selected from the vocabulary contained in the news report and may include a selection of place names, news terminology, useful colloquialisms and phrases.

Gheibhear an làraich seo air tablaidean is fònaichean-làimhe ach, a chionn ‘s gur e bhidiothan làn-sgrion a-mhàin a sheallas iPhone, bithear a’ cluich faidhle-fuaim seach bhidio.The site should work on mobile devices, but since iPhones will only show video full-screen and hide the transcript, we play an audio file instead of the video.